Literary parody as a form of creative discussion

Abstract

The parody as a literary genre represents a multifaceted and complex phenomenon, allowing poets and writers to solve numerous creative tasks. However, the notion of “parody” does not correlate to a fixed, clear and comprehensive definition. The only thing uniting numerous definitions relates to assigning the functions of derision to the parody. But can the derision be regarded as a key objective of all parodies? This study shows that not at all. The literary parody can be considered more as a form of art criticism and creative discussion, and in some cases as well as a form of alternative update of parodied texts with playing upon their images meaning in other semantic keys. Therefore, the concept of “literary parody” needs in a more precise and broad definition, allowing a proper assessment of its place in the literature and comprehensive understanding of its role in the culture as a whole.